


The Best of You, the Best of Me

by Enk



Series: Follow the Call (to the Taebaek Mountains) [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M, Slice of Life, Training, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:46:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enk/pseuds/Enk
Summary: When Yakov and the rest of the Russian team are at the European Championships, Yuuri and Victor are left to train on their own devices.





	

“Again.” Yuuri says as he sits on a cold bench blowing warm air into his hands A few feet away from him, Victor nods, takes a few steps, jumps, and still lands about half a rotation too short. On the next, it’s barely a triple. Victor’s face is covered in sweat, cheeks and nose red from the cold when he walks over to Yuuri.

 

“One more?” He pants. He doesn’t look exhausted yet, but they still have to make it to the rink even if Yakov isn’t there today.

 

“No,” Yuuri shakes his head and tosses Victor his coat. “We still have to get to the rink and you still need to work on your step sequence. And we leave tonight.”

 

“Ah yes, our very secret project.” Victor smiles and slips on his jacket.

 

Yuuri does steal a kiss before they hurry to the rink. Even with Yakov not there, Victor has made a point to check in with him every day. It isn’t just about how it looks and dedication and all that. No, Victor is working on training Yuuri while training himself which is a feat no other skater had even considered because even in theory, it seemed too much for any one person. So, he doesn’t blame Victor when he starts to feel the difference. Even if Victor hasn’t knowingly changed, he has less focus for Yuuri’s routines and sometimes Yuuri catches him lost in thought. Just over a year ago, Yuuri would have cried himself to sleep thinking he wasn’t good enough, that he bored Victor, that no one really loved him, and that he was a disappointment to everyone. Sometimes those thoughts still surface, only now he sees them for the lies they are- at least most of the time. However, while training, he can keep them at bay.

 

And while Victor gets distracted sometimes, it isn’t the norm. He does take training Yuuri seriously and the norm is constant encouragement and criticism, calling Yuuri out when he- sometimes with deliberation- slacks off, and above all he shows unfaltering faith in Yuuri’s abilities. But Yuuri’s favourite part is when Victor watches him in silence with either a hand over his mouth or so enthralled that his jaw goes slack. That’s what Yuuri always strives for, the sparkle of tears in the corner of Victor’s eyes, the sheer joy that radiates from the man when he watches Yuuri perfectly land the quad flip. And his most favourite part of all are the times that Victor cannot help himself and skates across the ice to meet Yuuri with a kiss even when the rest of the team is right there, and Yuuri will never stop blushing when he does. The others don’t seem to care much. Mila gets a little starry-eyed; Georgi appears pleased with himself; and even Yuri only rolls his eyes now. In the end, it’s Yakov’s whose reaction Yuuri gauges the most. He is a professional figure skater after all and does try to keep some semblance of separation between his love life and his profession. However, most of the time Yakov has no expression on his face and doesn’t say anything. And sometimes, Yuuri catches something in Yakov’s eyes, something fond. Yakov does clear his throat when Victor slides from encouragement into overzealous praise and doting.

 

Today isn’t like that. Today he and Victor are focused. Yakov isn’t at the rink, he with Yuri and Georgi and Mila is already in Paris and what none of them but Mila know is that Victor and Yuuri have a flight booked to leave tonight, getting them there just in time for the men’s free skate. However, that means they have to really work today because they’ll be off the ice for two days- Victor insisted they spend a day in Paris together. It also means that they are unsupervised and sometimes that turns out terribly. Yuuri steps on the ice just as Victor’s phone chimes and echoes across the rink.

 

“Smile for Yakov!” Victor holds up the phone but Yuuri doesn’t smile. Instead he turns his head slightly, gives Victor as much Eros as he can muster, and gives a thumbs up. He is a serious skater who has a serious career and a serious competitor and his face breaks into a smile.

 

“From the top then?” He wants to wink but they have to focus.

 

“That’s right.” Victor says as he sets up the camera and blatantly takes a selfie. Yuuri can already see the post: _Training hard! #boyfriendsonice_

 

Yuuri skates to the middle of the ice and takes a breath. He remembers the critique Victor gave him a few days ago: “you didn’t think while you skated.” At first, he was annoyed, because before Victor had told him that he was thinking too much, but when he had watched the video in comparison to his performance at the Grand Prix Final, there had been a significant difference. It reminded him of Yuri’s performance when Victor had watched with both pride and a significant amount of worry. Forgetting yourself on the ice, he knew had led to Victor forgetting himself. They had a long conversation about it. How Victor was afraid that Yuuri and Yuri were both going to follow in his footsteps and how he was terrified he couldn’t pull them both out. Yuuri had promised he would do his best and that he realized that his best is when he skates thinking of his love for the ice and how the idea of losing it again fills him with trepidation.

 

So, he thinks of everyone and everything he loves, the people who keep him strong and when the music starts, he thinks of Victor and bites his bottoms lip. He goes with it and feels it, winks as he skates off. He thinks of Victor, the soft noises he makes into their kisses, the way he melts against Yuuri. How he had fallen in love with the real Victor, not the persona he was on the ice. The real Victor who had strengths and weaknesses, who had been filled with ambitions not his own. The real Victor who had discovered himself together with Yuuri. He lands his jump flawlessly. Yuuri thinks of the Victor he seduces, the Victor he fell in love with on a warm September evening walking along the beach in Hasetsu. At least that had been the moment when Yuuri had realized. They were sitting on a bench by the ocean after swimming all day. Yuuri doesn’t get so lost that me misses a jump or a transition. Judging by Victor’s face, the combination was perfect. He had been so nervous when he realized he was in love because Victor was his coach, his friend, but Yuuri wanted them to be more. He wasn’t scared- nervous yes, but not scared- when he leaned his head against Victor’s shoulder as they sat. And just like that, Victor wrapped his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder with a soft smile and pulled him closer like it was what he had waited for all along. That’s when Yuuri had kissed him and Victor had melted against him with a soft, happy sigh. Yuuri jumps, one arm stretched above his head. He can hear the noise Victor makes across the rink, so he pushes himself. He remembers Yuri’s performance at the Grand Prix Final, had seen the times he had raised the difficulty of his jumps and Yuuri is not going to be left behind in the dust. He wants to push himself further and harder, especially now that he will compete against Victor on the same ice. He finishes strong, not feeling close to the exhaustion that he had felt in Barcelona. Taking a few deep breaths, he relaxes and skates back to Victor who leans against the rink wall with a broad smile.

 

“I see you are still trying to surprise me.” He reaches to pull Yuuri close.

 

“No,” Yuuri says but allows himself to be pulled closer. “Not anymore.”

 

“No?” A look of confusion settles on Victor’s face.

 

“No.” Yuuri repeats and kisses Victor’s lips with a smile. “I’m trying to beat you now.”

 

Victor’s eyes widen. Yuuri is close enough to hear the slight hitch of breath on Victor’s inhale. Gently, the man’s hand caresses Yuuri’s cheek and he nods because he understands. “You have a lot of energy left.” Victor brushes a strand of hair from Yuuri’s face, kisses him, and then pushes him away. “You put your arm up once, let’s see if you do it a few times and still land clean.”

 

Yuuri lands half the jumps cleanly. The others are step-outs, stumbles, and he falls twice. Neither of them are particularly hard but Victor breaks the neutral façade of his coaching face until Yuuri groans and smiles as he gets up again. They take turns practicing jumps- well, Yuuri practices his jumps while Victor focuses on his step sequence. They feed off each other and eventually start weaving in and out of each other’s space until they reach for each other and lace their fingers together. Their individual practice melts together into their gala skate. Victor kisses Yuuri when they finish and pushes off toward the middle of the rink. When Yuuri gives him a questioning look, Victor just smiles.

 

“I want to show you something.” He winks and skates off in a flourish. “Don’t take your eyes off me.”

 

Yuuri watches at the edge- and on the edge. He watches Victor take two laps before he sets up a jump and deep down maybe Yuuri knows what’s coming because his fingers dig into the wood until his knuckles turn white. Then, he can see the edge turn forward, outside, he knows what’s coming. He doesn’t breathe, he can’t breathe, he can’t even blink out of fear he might miss a split second. His whole body tenses when Victor’s blades leave the ice and everything slows down. He leans forward, gasps when there are enough rotations. Victor lands a little too loose, his skate wobbles, he steps out, stumbles, and though he fights for it, he falls. Still, Yuuri can hear a cry of success, Victor’s arm in the air because he has never been this close and has never done it on the ice. Yuuri skates across the ice as fast as he can, nearly tackles Victor to the ground when he slides the last few metres on his knees. The kiss is hard and deep and filled with pride and admiration.

 

“You were so close, Victor!” Yuuri kisses him again, showers Victor’s lips and cheeks and jaw with kisses until Victor laughs and wraps his arms around Yuuri.

 

“I fell,” he says but the smile on him is so broad that it is obvious he doesn’t care.

 

“If you’d landed it on your first real try, I might as well retire now.” Yuuri jokes but Victor’s face falls.

 

“I don’t have to jump it. I-.”

 

“Oh no, bad joke, bad joke!” Yuuri showers Victor with kisses again and it pulls at his heart that Victor is still so worried about him retiring.

 

“Promise?” Victor’s face is adorably worried. And even if Victor lands ten quad axels in a row, Yuuri can’t retire, not now, not any time soon. Not when he has found everything that he’d thought he had lost and so much more, everything they had discovered together and really, he looks forward to a competition that won’t leave him frayed and on the edge with nerves and anxiety. And if he’s good enough, the Olympics are in a year and he hadn’t made the cut for Sochi.

 

“I promise.” Yuuri smiles and pulls away getting up slowly. “Let’s end on a high note. You don’t want to injure yourself and we have a flight and there’s just enough time to go home and…” Yuuri trails off and looks at Victor as he skates away and leaves the rink.

 

And Victor, well Victor definitely understands and gets the hint because he is up and follows Yuuri almost immediately. They barely make it into the locker room before their lips are locked and arms wrapped around each other. It takes more effort to take separate showers, but they’re in public. They take the fastest showers possible and somehow make it to the apartment mostly without getting distracted by each other. But once the door closes behind them, Yuuri drops to his knees with a grin.

 

***

 

 

“I think we need to shower again.” Victor smirks as he pants and Yuuri rolls his eyes. Though Victor is not wrong. They ended up sweatier and stickier. At least they are home and to save time, they shower together, kissing and caressing and in the end they are so caught up in each other that they might as well have taken separate ones. But Yuuri doesn’t mind, they have time, and he’s quite sure that Victor doesn’t mind either. Yuuri leaves for Gangneung in a couple of weeks and then he won’t see Victor until after the tournament is over. For Victor’s free skate in the Russian Cup final if all goes well. He can’t wait to see the look of surprise on Victor’s face.

 

“Why are you smiling?” Victor asks when they step out of the shower and Yuuri realizes he has been grinning to himself at the thought of his own secret plan.

 

“I’m so proud of you.” Yuuri doesn’t miss a beat and wraps his arms around Victor. It isn’t a lie because he’s incredibly proud even if there is a chance that if Victor lands that jump, Yuuri will compete for the silver against Yuri rather than the gold. Victor seems to read his thoughts.

 

“If I win the sixth consecutive world championship title,” he whispers against Yuuri’s ears, “it will be the first time I feel I deserved it and that’s all because of you.”

 

“You had to put it that way, didn’t you?” Yuuri laughs and pulls away because they still need to get dressed and pack their bag. One bag, it strikes Yuuri. They travel with one bag now.

 

“That I am a fifth consecutive world champion?” Victor winks and uses the towel around his waist to dry his hair. Yuuri leaves before he can drop his knees and remind the man where arrogance- no matter how pretend- gets him. They don’t have time. Yuuri gets dressed and packs their- _their-_ bag. Every so often it hits him just how happy he is. And it’s even better when Victor has the very same look on his face when he comes out of the bathroom half-dressed and just stares at Yuuri and in response, Yuuri slightly moves his hand enough to let the ring there catch the light. They somehow make it to the airport on time.

 

***

 

 

Yuri is focused. He is in first place, well ahead of everyone else. Georgi has just skated but only managed second place. Yuri is calm and collected as he pulls the headphones from his ears. He doesn’t hurt as much today; Otabek has sent him a good luck message; everything is in his favour, but it still feels like something is missing, something he can’t-

“Yurio!!! Davai!!!” He hears from the stands. He doesn’t have to look up to know those two idiots came to cheer him on. But for some reason he does, only to see those same losers waving a Russian flag with Yuri’s face plastered on it. He rolls his eyes and hopes the smile cracking the corner of his mouth isn’t visible to them. He’d never live that down. Just to make sure they don’t remember, he wins by a massive margin.


End file.
